To cope with budgetary difficulties, the Departments have asked the government to increase their share of notary fees. Michel Barnier confirmed this increase this Friday. This should bring in 1 billion euros to communities.
Expected firmly by the presidents of Departmental Councils, this Friday, at the end of their meetings, Prime Minister Michel Barnier let go and made announcements to relieve their finances. Thus, among the measures that the government will take, the Prime Minister announced an increase for three years in the ceiling on notary fees levied on real estate transactions, to the tune of 0.5 points.
Faced with the current budgetary difficulties, the Departments had asked the government for the possibility of increasing their share by one point. An increase of 4.5% to 5.5%.
Indeed, it is commonplace to think so but, no, the costs of acquiring real estate (around 7 to 8% of the total price) do not go directly into the pocket of the notary and his office. . Thus, these notary fees essentially represent taxes that any buyer must pay when purchasing a house or apartment, these are transfer taxes.
Costs shared between the municipality (1.2% of the sale price) and the departmental council (3.8% to 4.5% of the sale price). On this last levy, the State recovers 2.37%.
A billion for communities
At the end of October, the government spokesperson, Maud Bregeon, had not closed the door. “The subject is on the table and we are not closed to it, we have to look at what we can do”, had – she indicated while specifying that “the Department is the social level and we will be very careful to ensure that they have the resources to pursue their missions”.
However, for several days, the Departments have been increasing their bad-humoured gestures towards a government which has asked local authorities to make an effort of 4 billion in savings.
Finally, this Friday, Michel Barnier opened up some avenues without giving figures to relieve the budget of the Departments. The measure on notary fees should bring in 1 billion euros to communities according to data from Bercy. According to BFM TV, this increase in transfer taxes, to the tune of 0.5 points, should not be mandatory. Each department will decide whether to apply it or not.
